Rogue Toll Booth

Drivers on the GA 400 southbound beware!  The toll booth second in from the right is a money-grabbing meanie.  Mr. F and I went through this booth twice in three days and it steadfastly refuses to correctly count coins smaller than quarters.

Fool me once and it's somewhat annoying.  Fool me twice (or rather, the guy two cars in front last night) and it needs to stop.

Nailed

So guess where I sat for a couple of hours the other morning?  Yup, the tyre shop (US translation: tire).  I love my car to death, but it does seem to have a penchant for picking up nails - this is the second one in about 18 months.  And no, I don't spend all my time driving around construction sites.  Riding the Tail of the Dragon would be much more fun.

Have you heard of the new gel nail polish?  (How's that for a change of direction worthy of TotD?) Dries quickly, hard as - well - nails, lasts longer than regular nail polish.  Actually it doesn't come off.  Ever.  You are doomed to repeated visits to the nail salon (did I hear a chorus of "oh bummer" from some?  Sarcasm doesn't become you, ladies), peeling it off or waiting for it to grow out.

Problem with peeling it off is that the top layer of your nail goes with it.  And somehow it manages to weaken the tips of your nails if you leave it to grow out.  So either way, you're stuck with nasty, shattered and peeling nails until time has replaced your entire nail.  Mine have been three months now and counting...

My advice?  Avoid gel nail polish like the plague.  Whichever plague scares you most.

Vinegar!

Lately I've been using vinegar for cleaning all sorts of things.  It's a lot cheaper than standard cleaners and not as bad for the environment.  My two favourites (so far) are:

• use white vinegar instead of fabric softener in the final rinse.  You don't need much; half fill one of those plastic ball things that you can buy for fabric softener for a full load of clothes.
• apple cider vinegar is great on hair instead of conditioner.  Pour about a cup over your hair after shampooing - it will get rid of soap build-up and leave your hair shiny and soft.  They say you can use vinegar for a rinse every time you wash your hair, but I do it once a week or every other week.

Don't worry about having a vinegar smell - it's gone by the time it dries (the only time this hasn't happened was when I got a bit overzealous with one load of laundry and put in twice as much as I needed...).  Clothes come out smelling fresh like they've been hanging outside in clean air to dry.  Recently I reverted to fabric softener for a laundry load (the vinegar bottle was downstairs and I couldn't be bothered getting it) and when the clothes were dry I almost choked on the strong, sickly sweet smell of the fabric softener.  And I use a mildly scented one...  You don't notice how strongly they smell until you quit using them for a while.

There are plenty of web pages with tips, two good ones are HERE and HERE.  It's great for some plants too - azaleas, gardenias and rhododendrons love it apparently.  And it will stop ants from coming in the house.  Yay for vinegar!